Well, my girl has had a tough time of it in first grade. Socially, she’s having a wonderful time. Academically, it’s not so great. As a matter of fact, we’re close to having to repeat the grade. The hard part is that she thinks she’s doing fantastic. Hmmm. So we went the route of educational testing ($625) to determine if she needed to be held back. We found out that she has a mild reading problem and a mild attention problem. She scored just barely above the line that indicates a problem and a necessity for medication. The tester said she couldn’t make a recommendation one way or another about retention (the reason we went to her in the first place) because the girl has an average IQ, tested well, and can read. The tester said she was 49/51 about retention. Then she brought up the fact that my girl drew a picture of herself without hands. Apparently, this indicates a lack of confidence. Whatever. When I asked my child about the hands, she said she doesn’t know how to draw them.
Now, we need to pay $250 for a speech evaluation because immature speech patterns are obstructing spelling ability and reading. Then, we’ll pay $50 per session to have the problem remediated. Next week, we’ll meet with everyone at school. We’ll see what they have to say.
We also have to continue to pay the tutor for the summer ($40 per hour) and possibly for reading and math summer camp ($550 for two weeks of three-hours per day sessions).
My husband is completely opposed to medication. My pediatrician does not think there is an issue with our daughter. She may change her mind when she sees the report, who knows? So, what it comes down to is that my husband emphatically believes that if it’s an issue of repeating or taking meds, then she should repeat. I think that’s fine for first grade, but it won’t help when she struggles in second grade because she is focused on something else.
Really, there’s no way to tell except for letting time take its course. In the process of that, the poor child sinks further. Parenthood is soooo much fun. I recommend this to anyone. We all need to sit by and helplessly watch a defenseless creature suffer and struggle. It builds character all around. Sense my sarcasm.
Sorry for being a downer. But, that’s what fate offers right now. There’s got to be an upside somewhere, but I haven’t found it yet.
